Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1887-10-13
WOMAN'S DEPARTMENT.
SHALL OUR WOMEN voTEq

SHALL OUR WOMEN vOTE2
Prejudice the Real Source of the Many
Objections Made Against Women vot-
Ing.
From the speech of Oliver E. Branch,
of Weare, delivered in the New Hamp-
shire Legislature, August 2, 1887, i'm
support of a bill to give women suf-
frage in town and city elections, the
following is taken:
"Well,". says gallant, chivalric
Conservatism, IF women vote they
should do military duty, should they
not3" Certainly, if the necessities of
the State require. But what logical
connection is there between voting
and fightingP Not the slightest. The
State demands the services of men in
time of war, not because they vote, but
because they are able-bodied and are,
of all citizens, the best fitted for that
particular work, just as the State Sc
lects its judges and magistrates, not
because they vote, but because they
are fitted by training in the law to do
that kind of service. 1t exempts GER
tain of its voters from military duty be-
cause they are not able-bodied.
The whole philosophy of service in
the State is based upon the idea of
special fitness. 1t does not arise out
of any miserable, pick-thank idea of a
bargain and barter over the right to
vote. But, gentlemen, in times of
war, women have ever borne their
part, as effectively, as heroically, as
men. There are no more thrilling
pictures of military achievement than
those in which women are the central
figures. Boadicea, hurting the hordes
of her native Barbarians upon the
trained and disciplined legions of
Rome; Joan of Arc, turning back the
tide of English invasion, while de-
jected and fabby King looked on in
gaping wonder; Maria Theresa, who,
when the Great Frederick was threat
ening her throne and kingdom, as
Macaulay describes the scene, erode
after the fashion of her fathers up the
Mount of Defiance, unsheathed the
ancient sword of state, shook it north
and south, east and west, and, with a
glow on her pale face, challenged the
four corners of the world to dispute
her rights and those of her boy
these are examples of what leadership
and prowess women can disclose when
the exigencies of war demand them.
The women of EOgland who fitted out
the Relief Expedition during the
Crimean war-Florence Nightingale
and her associates, who, while the
drowsy Home Office was floundering
through the tangle of circumlocution
and red-tape, marched straight into
the hospitals at Scutaria and brought
order and cleanliness out of chaos
and filth-did as much for the success
of English arms in that war as all the
dignified secretaries and clerks in Lon
don, or as Lord Raglan who conducted
the winter campaign upon the bleak
and frozen heights of Crim-Tartary.
The women of the North who did
the work of the Christian Commits.
sion during the late war; the women
North and South who, while theil
hearts were breaking, scraped the lint
and rolled the bandages and knit
the socks, who glided like angels o.
mercy into noisome hospitals and
wards where death brooded and sol
diers lay dying, bringing cheer and
consolation and comfort in theil
hands, these were as heroic, as valiant
as useful servants of the State, as the
men who bore the flags and fired the
guns. God help us if the time shall
ever come when the State or Natior
shall need the services of its womer
citizens in the field of war! but if the
times shall ever come, they will b'
found ready to do their duty whethel
they vote or not. Applause.
The fact is, gentlemen, in its las
analysis, the real and only objection
that can be made against woman's suf
frsge are those which arise out o
prejudice. We are like the deacon
who was lamenting the growth of her
esy in his church and the consequence
which would follow certain unorthodo,
ideas. Said he: IF we give up tn
idea of the fall of man we must Civ
up original sin. If we abandon origi
nal sin, we must give up the atone
ment; if we give up the atonement, W
shall have to let foreordination an,
election slide; and if they go, then
don't see but what every body will b
saved. Brethren, let us hope for bet
ter things" So when we abandon tn
Greek and Roman ideas of woman
inferiority, we find that we must abar
don the claim that she is not our mer
tai equal. When we concede that, W
are forced to admit that she has tn
proper qualifications to vote; and if W
admit that, then every body will hav
the right to vote and hold office; an
we can only say: Brethren, let u
hope for better thingsr' Seriously
has not the time come when we ma
safely abandon the social orthodox
and political calvinism, to which W
have so long clung, and may try to G,
along with the Bill of Rights and tb
Declaration of Independence?
Kansas Women Voters,